California Teen Spreads Awareness, Pride in Community

Seventeen-year-old Jahbrielle Henning-Rayford is a young woman on a mission. Born in St. Louis, Mo., but raised in Los Angeles, Calif., Rayford has made it her goal to spread awareness and cultural pride throughout her community. A senior honors student in Crenshaw Senior High School's prestigious Gifted Magnet Program, Jahbrielle will be attending Howard University this fall, where she plans on majoring in radio, TV and film. She also plans to focus on creative writing classes and African-American studies, especially philosophy, literature and history. Read more....

Judge Convicted in Pennsylvania Kids-for-Cash Scheme, Faces Long Prison Term and Class Action Lawsuit

A federal jury has found a former Pennsylvania judge guilty of participating in a so-called "kids for cash" scheme, in which he received money in exchange for sending juvenile offenders to for-profit youth jails over the years. Former Luzerne County Judge Mark Ciavarella, Jr., was convicted Friday of accepting bribes and kickbacks for putting juveniles into detention centers operated by PA Child Care and a sister company, Western Pennsylvania Child Care. Ciavarella and another judge, Michael Conahan, are said to have received $2.6 million for their efforts. Ciavarella faces a maximum sentence of 157 years in prison, in addition to a class action lawsuit on behalf of the youths’ families. For more on this story, we are joined by Marsha Levick of the Juvenile Law Center and to Sandy Fonzo, who believes her son’s suicide was related to his treatment by Ciavarella. Class Action Lawsuit

Mixed-race adoption policy gets new guidelines

White couples should be allowed to adopt black and ethnic minority children under new guidelines for social workers in England.

Local authorities will be warned not to delay placing a child with a suitable family of a different ethnicity.

Many children from ethnic minorities do not get adopted because social workers have been keen to place them with families of the same background. BBC News

David A. Love: Cops Are Missing the Bad Guys While Profiling the Black Guys

In America, race is a proxy for violence. Black men are regarded as a criminal element, and racial profiling is a practice that goes far beyond the justice system. It is culturally ingrained and normalized. In the days of old, when black people were not allowed to roam about unattended or without permission, slave patrols policed the plantations and hunted down fugitives. Read more...

No Equity in Adoption For Black Children

Although studies show there is little difference, according to racial group, in the incidence of abuse and neglect that would lead to a child or youth’s placement in foster care, Black children are more likely to be steered into foster care at disproportionate rates than Whites, and are often “negatively characterized and labeled” by child welfare workers, explained U.C. Riverside Professor of Psychology Dr. Carolyn Murray during a recent lecture series on the “Psychological Development of Black Children”. Read more...

Profane Kid Video Demonstrates the Need for Our Own Revolution – (Video)

 

It is truly heartbreaking to see such young girls spouting the type of ignorant foolishness that almost certainly guarantees them a life of regret, despair and worthlessness. You just want to reach in to the screen and take them out and kill them show them that the way to excel is not through threats and violence and name-brand clothing. You want to show them that education, hard work and the belief in their own potential is the key to success. You want to tell them they are valuable, beautiful human beings with limitless futures.

As much as we want to blame the schools, the media, the white man or whoever, the blame falls squarely on our shoulders.

- BV Black Spin

Children of working mums more likely to be ill

 

The children of working  mothers are up to three times more likely to be ill, research has revealed.

A study of the health of 90,000 schoolchildren found that those whose mothers worked were more likely to have spent time in hospital, to have been diagnosed with asthma and to have suffered bone breaks and poisonings.

Lack of supervision is thought to be one of the reasons.

Children of working mums ¿more likely to be ill¿ | Mail Online

Energy Drinks May Be Unsafe For Kids, New Report

Energy drinks may be unsafe for some children especially those with diabetes, seizures, heart abnormalities or mood and behavior disorders, according to a report by researchers at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine published in the journal Pediatrics this week; however the beverage industry fiercely disputes this. Read more...

Website connects African American youth with mentors across the country

Website connects African American youth with mentors across the country | wbir.com

Obama to seek changes in Pell Grants

President Barack Obama's budget plan would cut $100 billion from Pell Grants and other higher education programs over a decade through belt-tightening and use the savings to keep the maximum college financial aid award at $5,550, an administration official said.

Nearly $90 billion of the projected savings would be achieved through two changes, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of Monday's release of Obama's 2012 budget. The spending plan applies to the budget year that begins Oct. 1. AP Source - Yahoo! News

Michelle Obama: Laughter is good for marriage

Here's Michelle Obama's advice for couples this Valentine's Day: laugh with your partner.

She says it's what she and President Barack Obama do, and it seems to be working. Their marriage, although tested throughout the years by his political ambitions — for the Illinois Senate, the U.S. Senate and later president — is going on 19 years.  Read more...

No racial bias at child protective services: study

Child abuse really is more common in African American than white homes, according to a new study that dismisses earlier claims of racial reporting bias in the child welfare system.

But the blame lies with circumstances out of parents' control, say the authors of the report.

'The problem is not that (Child Protective Services) workers are racists,' said Brett Drake, who studies child welfare at Washington University in St. Louis and led the new research.

'The problem is that huge numbers of black people are living under devastating circumstances,' he told Reuters Health. | Reuters

Facebook Rolling Out Brand New Photos Interface

Facebook‘s all-new design for displaying photos now appears to be rolling out to quite a few users. It features larger images, a lightbox-type UI and other features that put Facebook in even more competition with Flickr on the casual and social photography front. Mashable

Spain Creates Tax Break for Hiring as Jobless Rate Among Youth Exceeds 40%

The Spanish government created tax breaks to encourage hiring young people and the long-term unemployed in a bid to lower the 43 percent youth jobless rate.

Companies will get a reduction of 75 percent to 100 percent in social-security taxes for offering part-time work to people up to 30 years old and the long-term jobless, Labor Minister Valeriano Gomez told a news conference in Madrid today. The incentives last a year in an attempt to spur employment in 2011. - Bloomberg

Are "Twittering" Youth Agents of Positive Change?

The United Nations World Youth Report 2007 stated that there are approximately 1.2 billion people—18 per cent of the entire world population—between the ages of fifteen and twenty-four living in the world. Youth is a powerful force for change and youth activism is on the rise, with a lot of young people taking action for social transformation. Youth are engaging with their communities and making their voices heard. This activism is being carried out through a variety of media and is conducted differently in nearly every country in the world. Young people can choose to hold rallies and protests on the streets, attend public hearings, or even organize grassroots movements within their communities. Since the Internet is used by 30 per cent of the world’s population, as some estimates have it, it has also become a preferred tool for young people to foster positive change. UN Chronicle